July 4, 2025

Happy 4^th of July everyone! We are so grateful for the lives that were sacrificed so that we might live in this free country – the land of the free because of the brave. Thank you to any and all who have served our country to win or keep us free!

The flag flying from a crane in Yellowstone NP

We were initially going to spend the 4^th driving toward the Black Hills, but no one really wanted to drive on the 4^th; they wanted to eat hot dogs and watch fireworks. We had enough room in our schedule at this point that we decided to stay an extra day where we were. It also gave us one last chance to find some grizzlies.

We gave the kids the option of going into the park early in the morning or staying at the RV to sleep. Two opted to stay put. The rest of us left the RV at 4:30 in the morning trying to be in Lamar Valley around sunup (which is earlier this far north than it is in Chester, SC). We drove and drove and looked and looked in all the suggested places, but we never saw any grizzlies or wolves – the two animals that we were expecting to see at daybreak. Oh well. You always need an excuse to come back, don’t you?

Two kids did nothing but sleep in the car, so they were ready to be up and moving by the time we got back, but the rest of us went right back to bed for two hours or so. It had been a very exhausting past three days in Yellowstone as we were usually in the park by 9:00am and not back until close to or after dark (which was 10:00pm). The rest of the day we did fun stuff like go shopping in the town of Gardiner, walk together into town to get an ice cream treat, and just hang out.

This flag is on the side of a building in Gardiner, MT

I had to run AnaClaire back into the park to the Visitor Center so that she could get her Junior Ranger badge, but it was only a total of a 30 minute drive, and it gave us some time to spend just the two of us together.

AnaClaire and I at the historic entrance into Yellowstone

The historic original entrance into Yellowstone from Gardiner, MT

We cooked hot dogs for dinner and sat outside watching the pyromaniacs of Gardiner set off their personal fireworks. The campground sits on a hill overlooking the town, so we had great seats at our site just watching fireworks that people set off from various places.